Labour Minister Marin Piletic on Tuesday awarded contracts for the allocation of €1.9 million for the employment of persons with disabilities, which is expected to encourage more employers to hire them.

The contracts for 20 integration and five protection workshops were awarded in cooperation with the ZOSI institute for the professional rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities.

The employers were awarded the grant funds based on a call for applications.

Piletic said the number of employed persons with disabilities averaged 11,000 between 2016 and 2021, jumping to 15,511 last year.

ZOSI will prepare more such calls for applications in the future, he added.